Apple's great DRM-free iTunes Plus swindle

I understand the desire to own better-sounding Apple iTunes files, but let's face it - people want DRM-free iTunes for one reason and one reason alone. They want to listen to iTunes music on as many different iPods as possible, and they want to share their favourite iTunes tracks with their mates.

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I understand the desire to own better-sounding Apple iTunes files, but let's face it - people want DRM-free iTunes for one reason and one reason alone. They want to listen to iTunes music on as many different iPods as possible, and they want to share their favourite iTunes tracks with their mates.

But Apple and EMI can't say this, as it would open up a whole can of worms with recording artists and the music industry as a whole. So use of DRM-free iTunes Plus files remains technically restricted. It's just not restricted by technology.

I mean, why doesn't Apple sell all iTunes, with DRM, at the higher encoding rate? It wouldn't then be restricted to EMI artists, but no-one in their right mind would pay extra for the 'better sound quality' alone.

The fact is that true audiophiles wouldn't dream of buying iTunes, any more than they'd give up their precious chrome tape when CD technology came along. And people get DRM-free digital music every day when they rip CDs.

No-one's being ripped off here, and Apple and EMI are to be applauded for at least taking the plunge. But I wish we could all be a bit more mature about it and accept that DRM-free iTunes are here because people want to share music with impunity (and already do). Not because of some spurious improvement in sound quality. For that Apple would need to produce useable headphones.

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BillG said: Comments,BillG,I think you will find that when DRM makes it harder for paying customers to use the content they paid for then many will naturally think about moaning about DRM.
Now do you see why the public have the right to think about moaning about DRM?

AJ said: Comments,AJ,I don't see how the public have the right to even think about moaning about DRM!
If people didn't go to peer-to-peer networks and downloading their music ILLEGALLY without paying for it, then the music industry wouldn't need to implement DRM.
People are shelfish and have no sense of charity, IF YOU DON'T PAY FOR MUSIC FROM YOUR FAVOURITE ARTIST/BAND THEY AIN'T GOING TO BE IN BUSINESS FOR MUCH LONGER!!!
then you can say goodbye to your precious bands/artists
At the end of the day its ourselves to blame for this mess. Thank you

D@ve said: Comments,D@ve,"people want DRM-free iTunes for one reason and one reason alone. They want to listen to iTunes music on as many different iPods as possible, and they want to share their favourite iTunes tracks with their mates."
Or they might just want to be able to download tracks from itunes and play them on their non-ipod mp3 player.

Grandad said: Comments,Grandad,Who cares if it's 128kbps or 256kbps? It'll never beat the quality of vinyl played on my gramophone.